Gov. Robert Bentley, basking in the Gulf Shores sun this
week and apparently baking his brain in it, called this year's session of the
Alabama Legislature the best session
ever.

But then, a day later in Montgomery, he flipped around and
acknowledged that the Alabama Accountability Act – the GOP jewel of the
session, the flagship bill that defined it and set the tone for all that would
follow – was not as swell as first thought. He wants, in fact, to delay
implementing the meat of it for two years.

Whaat? The best session ever?

That's like saying Richard Nixon was the best president ever. Except for that Watergate thing.
It's like saying the 1919 Chicago Black Sox had the best season ever. Except for the eternal shame.

It's like saying the Hindenburg was the best -designed flying
machine ever. Except for that ... hydrogen.

Oh. The humanity.

This cannot be the best session ever. First of all, the best
session ever would be a utopian dream, a session in which the Legislature did
nothing at all but pass fair and balanced budgets that provided adequate
funding – and no more – for necessary departments.

I looked for a year in which the Alabama Legislature did not
convene, when it was prevented by war or pestilence or an act of God from meeting
at all. That – that would be the best session ever.

But this year was nothing like that.

The 2013 session was not about caution or restraint, nor
anything that resembles it. It was not about debate or dialogue or the pretense
of finding consensus. This year was about a GOP supermajority showing it had
the muscle to do as it pleased, about throwing stuff at the wall – the accountability
bill, campaign finance "reform," restructuring government – to see what went ... splat.

Change everything, and call it progress. Pass anything, and call
it conservative. Pass it now, and ask questions later.

The accountability act – a dramatic bill to give parents in
failing school districts tax credits to send their children to private and
parochial schools – was the prime example. The GOP pulled that one out of a hat
in committee and rammed it through, acknowledging the tactic was designed to avoid
pesky debate.

How much will it cost? How will the state pay for it? Who
will be eligible for tax credits? What will it do to struggling schools?

In old-fashioned sessions those questions would have been
asked and debated and answered before the bill was passed and signed into law.

In this session – the best one ever – Alabama is still waiting for answers.

Bentley does deserve credit now – even after praising the
bill and signing the original version – for having the guts to stop and consider.
He now wants to add an executive amendment to a revised version of the bill
that would add a two-year delay for the tax credits, giving the state time to
pay off its debt, and allowing failing schools a chance to pull themselves out
of failure.

It says a lot.

It takes brass to stop on a dime like that, to draw a line
in the sand with GOP leaders like Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh and
House Speaker Mike Hubbard, particularly going into the last rough-and-tumble
day of the session. There is rumbling in Montgomery already. The governor's amendment
alone, it is feared, could tie up the Legislature on its final day and derail a
few remaining bills.

But hey, that's not bad news. If nothing else gets done
Monday, it may actually turn out to be the best day of the session.

Ever.

John Archibald's
column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Birmingham News, and on
AL.com. Email him at jarchibald@al.com

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